1. Field of the Invention
The exemplary embodiment of the invention relates to a vehicle bumper and mounting bracket assembly for a vehicle lamp such as a headlight that is designed to enable the mounting bracket and lamp to be inserted and integrated to the interior side of a flexible vehicle bumper.
2. Description of Related Art
The current trend in vehicle bumpers is to make them of flexible materials such as polypropylene to provide flexure and energy dissipation for minor impacts. Flexible bumpers are also lightweight and can be painted to either match or contrast with the color of the vehicle body. Such vehicle bumpers also provide wide latitude for vehicle designers. Energy dissipating bumpers are generally provided with apertures which are designed to be aligned with lamps such as headlights, foglights or tail lights that are mounted to the frame of the vehicle. There are two conventional methods of assembling the lamps with the bumpers. One method is to front mount, i.e., mount to the exterior of the bumper the lamp by providing a pocket feature within the bumper face to package the lens and housing of the lamp. A second method is to use a rear load mounting, i.e., to mount the lamp on the interior of the bumper by using a metal bracket and backside screw bosses.
In some vehicles, due to styling requirements the lamp apertures are smaller than the actual lamp housing so that the rear load mounting direction is dictated by the design. Typically rear load mounting leads to surface blemishes or sinks and deformations on the surface of the bumper due to structural features required to attach the metal bracket such as backside screw bosses or dog houses. To hide these blemishes, it is common to use an extra component such as a bezel on the exterior surface of the bumper around the lamp aperture. This adds another step to the assembly process as well as another part to be cataloged and stocked. In addition, the bezel may be contrary to the aesthetic appearance desired particularly in recent vehicles which have a sweep front bumper that is curved. The elimination of a bezel will also provide more design freedom in the curvature of that sweep.
Typical examples of prior art methods of attaching lamps to vehicles are described.
An example of a prior art method involves a modular light assembly for mounting decorative light strips to motorcycles or similar vehicles. A flange includes light support housing that is designed to surround and clip around a light assembly carrying an integrated circuit board. The flange is itself mounted to the motorcycle or vehicle.
Another example from the prior art is a vehicle lamp having arm-like brackets integrally formed with lamp body to mount the lamp to the vehicle body. The lamp body also includes additional bosses for replacement brackets of similar design should the original bracket need to be replaced. These brackets do not surround and support the lamp in a frame-like manner, and they fasten to the vehicle body by conventional fastening bolts and nuts.
A third prior art example is a head lamp mounting bracket that is attached in conventional ways to a vehicle support bracket. The vehicle support bracket is located forward of the radiator support and fastened thereto.
It is also conventional to provide a three point fastening system on the rear side of the bumper for a fog lamp assembly.
Another prior art fog lamp installation device uses a bumper stay to attach a fog lamp to a bumper. The bumper stay attaches to the bumper in a conventional way with a fastener.
There is therefore a need for a rear load mounting of a lamp assembly that can follow the contour of the bumper, and has the structural integrity to hold the lamp assembly in a cantilever relationship on the rear side of a flexible bumper without additional hardware. The elimination of the need for a covering bezel on the outer surface of the bumper also provides more design freedom and streamlined assembly. These features would facilitate manufacture, and enable more styling freedom.